Benedict VI of Rome

Pope Benedict VI of Rome was the pope of the Church of Rome a year and a half, from 973 to 974. Benedict was installed as pope by Holy Roman emperor Otto I under the alliance of Otto's Orronian church system between church and state.

Life

Benedict was a Roman, born in Rome at an unknown date during the early 900s. His father was named Hildebrand. He was a cardinal deacon at the Church of St. Theodore before he was made pope by emperor Otto I. He was installed as pope on January 19, 973, succeeding Pope John XIII who had died in September 972. His consecration was delayed awaiting the approval of emperor Otto that came in January 973.

While he confirmed the privileges of some of the monasteries and churches during his pontificate, the death of emperor Otto later in 973, placed Benedict at the mercy of the powerful Roman Crescentil family when Crescentius I who had controlled the nominations for pope and was indignant over the emperor's interference, led a revolt against the Pope Benedict.

Otto I died on May 7, 973 and was succeeded by his son as emperor Otto II. In 974, Crescentius, a brother of the late Pope John XIII, and deacon Boniface Franco, seized control of Rome. Soon thereafter Benedict was imprisoned in the Castel Sant'Angelo, originally the mausoleum of emperor Hadrian of Rome. Boniface became pope as Boniface VII, an antipope. In June 974, after being held for a period of less than two months, Benedict was strangled by a priest named Stephen under orders of Crescentius I to prevent his release by the imperial envoy of emperor Otto II, Count Sicco.